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I'm not too familiar with the older generation players, as I only started watching NBA in the mid 90's, during Jordan's second 3-peat. But the numbers, accolades, and accomplishments for the likes of Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Magic, and Bird are undeniable. I'll probably out Shaq in there instead of Curry. Yes, Curry is the greatest shooter of all time, but you can't not include the most dominant big man of all time in the top 10.
One of my pet peeves is guys not staying in shape and Shaq probably left more meat on the bone than any other player in NBA history. He'd be in my top five peaks, but for career greatness I'm giving the edge to someone who anchored a contender for almost the entire past decade.
All that said, I don't even think it's wrong to have Shaq over Steph. Would you pick Shaq over Steph, though? I know that's a different exercise and Steph can be the more special player without being the better one.
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That's fair. Shaq did leave plenty of meat on the bone by being lazy; probably one of the reasons that caused him and Kobe's fall out.
I will still take Shaq over Steph, because he was unstoppable, and also because I love to watch 5's dominating the paint.
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That's interesting. Part of our difference probably is due to how much I hated watching Shaq. I appreciate him more now, but at the time I thought he was making the game so ugly.
I actually think Shaq and Steph are very similar in an abstract way. More than anyone else I've seen, they warped the geometry of the court and dictated what kind of personnel the other team can play.
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40 sats \ 1 reply \ @gnilma 16 Nov
Yes, one is unstoppable in the paint; the other is unstoppable beyond the arc (although his off ball game, ball handling, and driving ability are all top notch).
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The off-ball dominance of Steph is so hard to quantify. I've seen some Thinking Basketball videos breaking down how often he creates baskets for teammates without ever touching the ball, just because the defense is so distorted trying to contain him.
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